What am I--fine, fine, I'll do it, stop jumping on me!

This is Anakin Skywalker. Miss Lydia Bennett is indisposed this morning and so I am here to report on a party I didn't even go to.

*chittering*

No, that's not actually "very helpful" of you. Let's get through classes first, though, shall we? Dr. Blake took the First Aid students through a simulated mass casualty event and Galactic Travel class went to Alderaan.

*awkward pause*

I'm sure they enjoyed that.

*chittering*

No, it's lovely! I just haven't been there in a very long time.

In non-party town news, Rey and I were chasing a porg around her warehouse in a very dignified way and Watts took a break from work at the station for pasta salad with Steven.

*excited porg sounds* And Henry was in a common room.

*sound of massive pile of papers falling over*

Sithspit. There go the party notes. For those of you that aren't aware, Liliana and Ignis threw a garden party in celebration of their engagement and approximately half the island showed up, so strap yourselves in for five minutes of me trying to make small talk sound fascinating.

*chittering*

I do not find small talk fascinating. It's part of why I didn't go to the party. The other part was Christopher's baseball game. Liliana praised Gladio for wearing a shirt to the party and Ignis told Gladio about a box he could use to stuff Prompto into. That's more fun that small talk and I was never allowed to stuff boring Senators into boxes, which would've livened up receptions considerably. Prompto and only-youngling-at-the-party Noctra congratulated Liliana on her engagement and Ignis caught her--Noctra, not Liliana--before she could inflict plant-based injury on herself. Liliana gave Summer the heads-up that Rey wanted to go shopping, and Summer told both members of the happy couple how glad she was not to have to keep the engagement ring a secret any longer. Speaking of Rey, she was there to compliment Summer's dress, and so was Stark.

Liliana asked Arden how she chose the music at the end of her broadcasts, and Arden complimented Ignis on the air at the party, which is definitely a compliment I've never heard before. Lydia told Arden about her sister Mary's wedding, Liliana told Stark she didn't think the administration would let her teach hands-on necromancy and this is absolutely correct, don't do that, Ignis insincerely welcomed Stark and that made him wonder if he should stay to Rey.

Eleanor was praised for her participation in the ethics class and congratulated Ignis, Arden came over to cringe about how she'd complimented the air, and Lydia told Eleanor that today is her birthday and now I see why she's not here. Rey's dress met with Liliana's approval, and Rey complimented Ignis on how nice everything looked, a mistake she realized three seconds after saying it. Luma chose small talk with Liliana and Ignis and Lydia. Liliana gave Lydia birthday diamonds--

*chittering*

--something I'm being assured is not normally a thing, and was also greeted by Ignis and Rey, who complimented Lydia on her ability to blend in at a party. Liliana was pleased to see Don in attendance--so was Ignis, and then flirted with Tony before they worked on planning the party after next week's party. Ignis made sure to check that Tony would be dancing so he could see Liliana and Ignis' new chandelier. Steve and Tony also flirted before Steve made an unseemly dent in the appetizers, and Jack complained about sex pollen week to Liliana before introducing himself to Ignis.

*chittering*

No, that wasn't really a smooth transition, I agree. Deal with it. Stewart didn't understand garden parties but showed up anyway, Steven and Watts were thrilled by vegan food--someone has to be, I suppose--and then Steven tried to explain why he and Watts aren't married to Liliana before saying hi to Ignis and telling Stark about his upcoming trip to Greece. He also told Nell about it. Watts got a history lesson about Liliana's last name before saying hello to Ignis and Stark. Adrian was greeted by Luma and Lydia, Liliana, Ignis, and Rey. Popular guy.

Liz and Prompto talked about getting Noctra to nap, but Liz also complimented the party to Liliana and Ignis. Liliana praised Steve for letting Tony throw him a birthday party, and Steven apologized for missing the upcoming party because he's going to Greece. Liliana wanted Flint to open the bookstore more often, Lana brought congratulatory wine, Hannibal decided that an engagement party was a good time to tell Liliana about his cursed weddings, and Jon's presence reminded Liliana that she should re-teach her self-indulgence class. And Nell's dress matched Gladio's outfit.

And that's finally everything!

*chittering*

What.

*chittering*

And then people danced under the fancy chandelier. There. Now I'm finished.

*chittering*

No, I will not add more "pizzazz." Enjoy the weekend celebrations, everyone.

Rey was cleaning up a little, just picking up remotes and things from earlier training, and there was a porg following her. She wasn't sure where it came from but she'd given up caring about things like that. What she did care about was that she was getting slightly annoyed.

"Can you wait over there?" she asked, pointing towards a crate.

The porg gave a little trill and a flap of its wings, and then hopped on over to make up some distance between them for when she started walking again.

Maybe she should charge admission, it was basically a zoo in here now.

[Open!](/small>

In classes, Liliana learned how many do-gooders she had in her class when she gave them an option to save stranded people, Breakfast Foods got a sneak peek at the menu for Raiden's new restaurant, Hannibal had everyone bring in their signature dishes, we visited Crater Lake with Sam Eagle, and the library was being predictably weird for Belle.

In town, the Museum had a sign to remind everyone that it was air conditioned. Are there places on the island not air conditioned? It's one of the best parts of this century.

...someone check on that cranky bookshop owner. Liz was finding it hard to focus at the Photo Hut, Tony invited everyone to my birthday party, happening the day before my birthday so it doesn't interrupt your July 4th plans, Thor was experimenting with mead--you should try some, it's good--and Vi was stymied in her attempt to help Steph with Pride Weekend stuff by becoming a cat. If I had a quarter for every time that happened here, I'd be pretty well off.

*chittering*

Yes, I am married to Tony Stark. That's not the point.

Finally, Supper Club went for fancy tea in Baltimore. Lydia and Rey wanted to know if the tower of treats would come with a flag on it because we Americans love our flag. They are correct. Liliana offered to give Rey fashion advice and I am not stepping on that land mine, Ignis assured Rey they had everything prepared for today's festivities, and then said the same to Lydia. Flint didn't seem thrilled to learn that tea like this was aristocratic, and then Ignis and Liliana were being, and I quote, 'schmoopy', which I believe is their right. Flint and Rey were formal and awkward at each other, and Flint told Lydia that the delights of afternoon tea would be wasted on his colleagues in Nassau, and then his pocket was mysteriously filled with a flask that Liliana had nothing to do with.

That seems like a suspicious sentence, but I'm not looking into it further. See you all at the party!

"Welcome to our last class of the term," Lana said. Was she overly cheerful today? Maybe.

"Today we're going to a planet that's a fairly popular tourist spot. When it's not at war, anyway. There was a big issue with the succession a few years ago, though they seem to have figured it out. Welcome to Alderaan!"

Sorry not sorry, Jack.

She led them through the portal. They were at a large estate with a light dusting of snow and some very impressive mountains. "It's a monarchy with a complex system of nobility, but it's got some really lovely scenery. And we'll get to see it from thranta back!

There were a number of large winged creatures ready for boarding.

"If you don't want to do that, you can stay here and have tea and pastries, or visit the killiks next door. They're an insectoid species that may actually be the native species here. They don't generally speak Basic, but they have added humans to their hive mind that do. Just don't agree to be a Joiner with them yourself; it would be fairly awkward to live on Earth like that."

She personally was going to take a thranta.

Don had asked his students to join him in the Danger Shop, which was today programmed to look like a street in Midtown Manhattan. "It's our last class together, so I thought we'd do a practical exercise," he said. "Welcome to Manhattan. It's a lovely Friday in June, so..." He clicked a button on the remote, and the simulation started. Screaming, explosions, people running, the works. "Sounds like Dr. Banner has lost his temper again about eight blocks north of here, and..." he cupped a hand around his ear and listened. "Yeah, and Magneto is on a tear about five blocks south. Bruce can't really help it and Mr. Lensherr has a point, but it's hard on the ol' infrastructure. And the civilians...and sometimes the superheroes. You've each been supplied with a virtual version of a first aid kit that Tony Stark supplied to my students last summer," it was a field medic kit, was what it was, "so pick a direction, go find someone moddable in need of first aid assistance, and render aid to the best of your ability. Go! Shoo!"

Apparently it was the end of the first summer semester. Henry hadn't the faintest what any of that meant, nor had he yet to discover the courage to stray very far from the dorms.

But the dorms themselves? He certainly had those handled.

Especially the common room. Four times a day, like clockwork, he'd do exactly what he was doing this Friday afternoon: step out of his room, wander into the common room, open up that cold cabinet, and-- "Ah, cake!"

A very large apple pie, to be precise, which he set down on the common room table. Being unaware he was speaking English, he was unaware of the cake vs pie discussion, but he sure was going to shove a piece of it into his mouth as quickly as possible.

[[ open! ]]

When the guests arrived, they would, of course, be instructed to find their way to the garden conservatory; the subtle decorations both inside the mansion and through the exterior gardens would guide most people to there, and, barring that, the steward was naturally on hand to provide and escort. There, they would find a scene that seemed almost a stark contrast to the dark and brooding decor of a necromancer, a place filled with light and life, with plants both decorative and functional, colorful and aromatic and useful, and, of course, no lack of the expected gothic or Victorian touches here and there. Somewhere, some cleverly situated water fixture babbled steadily along with the light, inobtrusive music that set the atmosphere: something elevated just slightly above casual, that slight touch of pretentiousness that was gentle in its demands for propriety and decorum and class. Comfortable chaises and chairs were arranged here and there sociably, a gathering a wrought-iron bistro tables and chairs as well, but the set-up seemed to suggest the kind of floating interactions of butterflies among flowers, drifting from one to the next with an airy regard.

And, of course, the spread of food was exceptional, lighter fair, but plenty of it, things that could be enjoyed while fluttering about with the other guests in one hand, while the other held a glass of fine wine or sparkling water garnished with fresh fruits or even a robust coffee or a floral cup of tea. Small sandwiches and crostini, bruschetta and other variations, but there were also empanadas with a chimichurri sauce, paella with scallops, pomegranate pork kebabs...

Spring rolls, summer rolls, smoked salmon cucumber rolls...

And of course, desserts, which would include alfajores dulce de leche, coffee truffles, fruit crostini, and key lime mini pies.

Needless to say, no one should be wanting for food. Just be careful not to fill up on treats too much if you plan to stay on later; there was still plenty of dancing to be had, once the party moved itself to the awaiting ballroom.

[[ naturally, ocd incoming ocd is up! Come and celebrate with us! ]]

In between bouts of actual Trooper Station related work (no, not the "cybersecurity training", whatever that was), Watts was making sure his arrangements for his and Steven's holiday next week were all set.

He was very grateful for how easy the advent of mobile phones made that task, at least. No actual phone calls needed to be made, it was all done through the google.

He was here if you needed him, though!

Sam, who was extremely punctual as always it was not his fault the person typing was suffering through the end of the school year.

"Today," he announced, "we are heading to Crater Lake National Park in the fine state of Oregon!"

"The lake is one of the deepest in the world. Not the deepest but impressive nonetheless! Of course that is not the only sight to see there! There is plenty to do! There is hiking, there are Ranger programs, trolley and boat tours, and a walking tour in Rim Village. We will have plenty of time for you to experience what you wish. Come along now, students!"

Once again Sam was hustling people through the portal as if he were not responsible for the timing here.

The gremlins were out in full force today in the library and Belle was kept busy trying to stay out of their way. Some of them kept muttering something about "'ohana", one was running rampant in a blue fuzzy costume with an extra set of arms, and one was reading a well-loved copy The Ugly Duckling to a few others.

There was still, from somewhere, the sound of beeping but Belle couldn't identify the source.

All in all, a rather typical day in the library.

Class today met in the Danger Shop, which had been made to look like a very nice dining room, with a gourmet kitchen at one end in case anybody needed to make any last-minute adjustments to their offerings.

"Welcome to our final class," Hannibal greeted them with a smile. "I hope you've all brought your signature items. Today we'll be eating them. There will be no judging, only sharing these things and our stories about why these things are important to us and what meaning they may have."

He waved at his own offering. "I have made croque monsieur. My parents passed away when I was young, and I lived in an orphanage for some time. When my uncle adopted me and moved me to Paris, one of the first things I was given to eat was this. It's a kind of comfort food - a sandwich with ham and gruyère cheese, on good bread, with a béchamel sauce poured over it. Not terribly glamorous, but it held great significance to me."

He sat and nodded at them to do the same, then waited for their dishes and explanations.

Today the class would once again be greeted by a groaning table full of breakfast foods. Delicious, delicious breakfast foods. "All right," Raiden said, "we've come to the end of our time together, and I thought we could close out with a delicious breakfast...and a preview of the menu for my new restaurant, which is opening soon! So, uh, if you guys have any feedback on any of these handwavey dishes, I need that now. Please? Anyway, enjoy, and it's been fun having you in class!"

It was Lydia's twentieth birthday in a few days, which she very much doubted anyone remembered. She was trying very hard not to make a fuss about that, though it was very difficult. Look at her, maturing or something. Still, as the birthday girl she felt she was allowed a few liberties, such as moving Supper Club to the afternoon so they could have afternoon tea, a lovely English tradition she thoroughly predated but had been introduced to on the school trip to Canada. She did so hope everyone would enjoy it.

She had included in the message letting their usual suspects know about the time change and location a note that it might be fun to dress up a bit (she herself was wearing her newest dress, but that wasn't mandatory. Probably. Look, you had all met Lydia, right?

Welcome to Supper--er, Afternoon Tea Club, everyone!

Thor was still very much on a mead kick, which shouldn't come as a surprise since...well, he was Thor.

Fortunately, humans were as endlessly creative with mead as they were with everything else, and you could do so much more with mead these days than just drink it from a very large flagon!

Specials
Blackberry Mead Old Fashioned
Muddled Blueberry Garden
Mead Coconut Colada

The Devil's Nest is open!

Steve was finally allowing Tony to be as extra as the very fiber of his being wanted to be for his birthday. Which meant it would be the most red, white, and blue themed monstrosity that it needed to be when you were Captain America and born on the 4th of July.

So, of course he was gladly braving the heat to put up invites to, yes, another party for the island. Summer was popping off, folks.

Steve Roger's Birthday Celebration!
July 3rd, Stark Industries Ballroom
With fireworks to close out the night on the roof
Come one, come all!

Patty was helping out by aggressively panting and carrying said fliers on a little satchel on his back. It was adorable for sure.

[establishy, but open if you like!]

*chittering*

No. Not really.

*chittering*

I actually thought you'd decided to stop bothering me. Sadly, I'm not that lucky.

Let's see, the only School news, was Shenanigans, where 'sharing was chairing', where the voluntolds had to share an increasingly smaller number of chairs. I'm sure it all ended in tears, or random passers-by being flung at Anakin. Possibly both.

Nothing much for the Dorms, while in Town, it was date night at the boarding house, and at Caritas ice-cream jello was the flavour of the day. In between the usual nonsense on stage, Atton was quite negative about the jello theme, which might be why Summer sought reassurance from Rey, Stark was mostly relieved there were no horrors, and Stewart was there.

One last class, one last ethical decision!

Okay, at least, one last painstakingly contrived ethical decision. Your lives were likely going to be filled with them. Which was why Liliana suggested getting rid of as many as possible before that happened. It made things ever so much easier.

Today's breakfast was a variety of sweet and savory breakfast rolls, along with the usual collection of coffees, teas, and fruit juices.

"This, I will admit, I found preprogrammed in the Danger Shop, though I've changed a few of the details," Liliana said, once people were settled in with however much breakfast they desired. "You are a captain of a small spaceship; while it does have both offensive and defensive capabilities, its primary function is that of exploration. One day, you pick up an emergency distress broadcast by the captain of another ship, a ship transporting several civilian families emigrating to a new colony. They think their ship was hit by space debris, damaging many critical functions - including shields and engines - and their hull has been breached. Life support is failing and if they are not rescued soon, they will not survive.

"However, when mapping out where this ship is located, you realize that they have drifted into a dangerous and lawless part of space, where renegade ships of thieves and slavers are known to prey on any ship they think they can outfly or outfight. This could be a legitimate call for help, this could be a ruse from a group waiting to attack your ship, it could even be both: legitimate people in legitimate danger who are being used as unwitting bait. You seem to be the only ship close enough to pick up the distress signal, which means there are no other ships close by to come to their rescue, never mind yours.

"Your crew is asking for your decision; the longer you dither, the higher the likelihood that the ship will run out of life support and that someone unfriendly and opportunistic will find them. Their life expectancy does not increase by much, should that be the case. But for you to go to them, you are risking your lives and the lives of your entire crew, the majority of whom are not trained to fight. For you to ignore them, you are sentencing dozens of people - of families - to death. You have not hailed the other ship yet; you can simply pretend you never heard it and continue on your way. From what you can tell, opinion amongst the crew is pretty evenly split between going to save them and flying away, so asking for a vote won't help. The decision comes down to you, Captain. What is your order: do you attempt to rescue the civilians? Or do you leave the Kobayashi Maru to its fate?"

With how hot the last few days had been, Liz had not been sleeping very well at all and wasn’t feeling a hundred percent when she came downstairs to try and get some work done. It was near the end of the month so she wanted to get as much of the end of month reports done as she could, even though focusing on work was proving to be rather difficult that morning.

[the Photo Hut is open!]

With two days to go until Pride, Steph had about five dozen small tasks to juggle. Nothing too serious -- just the long, long list of seemingly trivial items that needed to get done in order to make sure things went off without a hitch -- but it did have her in a bit of a hectic state, constantly on the phone while she rang up customers and checked table reservations.

And, of course, made sure Saffron had her salmon treat. Not that Saffron had been feeling terribly charitable toward her ever since the HVAC maintenance person had found multiple stashes of kitty toys hidden away in the ducts.

This was all going to keep her busy until the usual lunchtime slowdown. It was a good kind of busy, though.

[OOC: Open!]

The weather wasn't as beastly hot as it had been, but even so Steven made sure the signs were out front reminding people that the Museum had air conditioning in case they needed a cool place to spend some time. He also made sure that there were bottles of water on hand in case anyone came in after too much time in the heat.

In the meanwhile he could be found behind the Welcome Desk, preparing for his upcoming week off. He hummed a song to himself but buggered if he could remember where he heard it. Something poppy, though. He danced to in his chair when he wasn't thinking about it.

[open]

Today there was a ring of chairs in the middle of the park, so that was fine. Musical chairs was a very normal game to play!

Of course, this was Anakin...

"By popular demand, we're bringing back playing Musical Shares!" Anakin announced through his completely superfluous megaphone. And no one had asked for this game again. "It will be one giant team building exercise!"

That seemed ominous. "Come get your shirts!"

Ohhhh, they were so pink and perky.

Anakin read out the names for the day:
Luma
Steve M
Belle
Stewart
Lydia
Steve R
Eleanor
Jaina
Gray
Rey
Don
Flint

When Summer came in and started setting up for the evening, she noticed that Tino was inspecting her tray of jello she'd brought in a bit more closely and more skeptically than usual. It made Summer feel a little suspicious about why he was paying so much attention, and, after some debate with herself about whether or not she really wanted to know what the issue was, she did eventually ask him what was up.

....which then turned very quickly into a debate about the fact that, technically, they are all still jello shots, and, actually the specials board didn't even say Featured Jello Shots, it said Featured Jello Periodt, and why was he trying to suppress her art like this with stupid pedantics anyway?

UGH. This is why shilling her jello art in other dimensions was so incredibly appealing.

Featured Cocktail
Frozen Banana Split

Featured Jello
Bomb Pops
Blue Raspberry Lemonade Jello Slush
Neapolitan Ice Cream Sandwich
Root Beer Float

Caritas is open!

Good morning, it’s Wednesday again and I’m here and -

*chittering*

And the squirrels would like to complain to island management about the heat. They wouldn’t have to deal with it if they weren’t running around spying all the time. They could just stay somewhere nice and cool and they do this to themselves.

So, let’s just read the notes before the squirrels melt. I don’t think they can really melt. They’re being very dramatic. So. Notes from the school. Gladio joined me for Finding New Hobbies and we learned about camping and Cup Noodle™. Thor brought his Norse Life students to a feast with singing. Everyone ended up very colorful during The Wonderful World of Art because Aphra and Isabela had everyone throwing dyed water balloons at each other. And in Paintball! there were buckets of ice water to go with the paint and Arden won our final game.

Nothing from the dorms for yesterday and the porg would probably be upset but I think he’s hiding from Anakin right now? Or swimming? Perhaps both.

In the town poor Kitty had to deal with Tino as usual and with the zombie band playing songs about heat. I’m sorry, Kitty.

Steph went around town putting up posters about Pride this weekend. A festival and a parade. Good. I like those. Both of those.

And Tony was trying get more things to hand out for Pride and telling Steve about it and promising to ogle him. Right.

That’s all I have from yesterday for today. I have to do a better job avoiding Anakin today than I did last week. I hope you all can do the same.